Shutoff device for water lines

ABSTRACT

A shutoff device which can readily accommodate a water meter comprising a pipe cross having a pair of opposing horizontal and vertical openings, an elongated vertical leg containing one of the vertical openings and an internal nipple having a vertical passageway therethrough aligned with the vertical openings of the pipe cross and a lateral passageway communicating with the vertical passageway and aligned with one of the horizontal openings of the pipe cross. An internal pipe is coaxially aligned within the elongated leg and connects into the nipple at one end and serves as a valve seat at the other end. Similar connecting arms are threaded into the two horizontal openings of the pipe cross and serve as the inlet and outlet for a water meter connected therebetween. One connecting arm has a sleeve with an O-ring seal which cooperates with the lateral opening of the internal nipple to direct the water into the water meter.

United States Patent [1113,554,215

FOREIGN PATENTS 383,680 10/1922 Germany.. Primary ExaminerM. Cary Nelson [72] lnventor Horst J ahrling 6 am Heiligenhaus, 6204, Wehen, Taunus, Germany Appl. No; 811,733

Assistant Examiner-R. B. Rothman Attorney-Webb, Burden, Robinson & Webb l [22] Filed Apr. 1, 1969 [4S] Patented Jan. 12, 1971 [54] SHUTOFFDEVICE FOR WATER LINES ABSTRACT: A shutoff device which can readil y accommodate a water meter comprising a pipe cross having a pair of opposing horizontal and vertical openings, an elongated vertical openings and an internal cal leg containing one of the verti nipple having a vertical passageway therethrough aligned with the vertical openings of the pipe cross and a lateral passageway communicating with the vertical aligned with one of the horizontal o passageway and penings of the pipe cross. An internal pipe is coaxially aligned within the elongated leg and connects into the nipple at one end and serves as a valve seat at the other end. Similar connectin into the two horizontal openings of the g arms are threaded UNITED STATES PATENTS e inlet and outlet for a wa seal which cooperates with the lateral o nipple to direct the water into the water PATENTEU JAN 12 I97! SHEET 1 UP 2 I end.

SHUTOFF DEVICE FOR WATER LINES This invention relates to a shutoff device for a water line shutoff of a conventional valve already in place and which readily accommodates a water meter.

The need to install individual water meters often arises after the plumbing in a particular building complex has been completed. For example, with the steadily increasing household consumption of hot and cold water in apartment complexes, it is often necessary or at least advantageous for assigning individual water meters to each tenant to properly proportion the costs of the overall water consumption forthe building. This often results in appreciable expense because of the labor involved which often is necessary to break away portions of walls and engage in large scale pipe installation work.

My invention eliminates this problem by providinga single means for the quick and economical installation of water meters into water lines already in existence without the need for repiping and the like.

My invention is a shutoff device which connects into a conventional valve already in existence along the pipeline. The shutoff device is a pipe cross having an elongated vertical .leg which replaces the shutoff of the conventional valve. The pipe cross has an internal nipple with a vertical passageway therethrough aligned with the vertical openings of the pipe,

connected to the horizontal openings of the pipe cross to ac-' commodate a water metertherebetween; one of thearrns has, a sleeve which cooperates with the lateral passageway in the nipple to form the inlet side for the meter, whereas the other arm serves as the discharge end for the water meter back into the pipe cross.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shownone preferred embodiment of my invention in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through the pipe cross;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through one of the pipe arms and its associated connecting members;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section through the other pipe arm and its associated connecting members;

FIG. 4is a side view of a stop plug;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation, partially in section of the connect, ing members of one pipe arm; and

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal section through an auxiliary valve seat.

The basic component around which my invention is constructed is a pipe cross 1 having the typical four outlet openings 7, 8, 9 and 12, each of which is positioned at right angles to a pair of opposing outlet openings, FIG. 1. The downwardly extending vertical leg 22 of pipe cross 1 which contains opening 12 is appreciably longer than the other three legs of the pipe cross 1. The bottom of leg 22 is threaded so it can be secured to a conventional valve fitting already in'place along a pipe network.

Integral with the pipe cross lis a nipple S-positioned internally atthe intersection of the four openings 7, 8, 9 andl2.

. Nipple 5 has a vertical passageway bctweenits ends and in nipple 5 contains internal threads-6.

An internal pipelis coaxially disposed within leg 22 so that a passageway 23 exists between the outer walls of inner-pipe 2 and the in'per walls of leg 22. Internal pipe Zhasthreads 4 at its upper end which are secured to internal threads 6 of nipple 5. Interna pipe 2 extends vertically downward through the opening 1 and has a valve end seal 3 secured about its lower My shutloff device, as described hereinbefore and shown in FIG. 1, caji be used asa shutoff in the following manner. The

, and more particularly to a shutoff device which replaces the 1 upper portion of a conventional valve (not shown) containing the shutoff member is removed from the valve assembly along a pipe network. The threaded end of leg 12 is screwed into the remaining valve assembly containing the valve seat (not shown). By using the appropriate socket wrench, internal pipe 2is threaded downwardly from threads 6 of nipple 5 until the end seal 3 of internal pipe 2 is seated on the valve seat of the lower portionof the conventional valve.

A conventional threaded stop plug 10, as shown in FIG. 4, is screwed into openings 9 and 7 to close them off. A threaded valve seat 11, as shown in FIG. 6, is screwed into the vertical passageway of nipple 5 immediately above the top of internal pipe 2 which is threaded into the bottom of the vertical passageway. A shutoff member (not shown) of a conventional valve isthen screwed into opening 8 and seated on valve seat 11. As a rule, however, the shutoff member is openso that small amounts of water may circulate up through the internal pipe 3, out'of the lateral opening in the nipple 5 and back down through passageway 23. This is shown by arrow 20 in FIG. 1'.

For purposes of easily installing a water meter into my shutoff device, a pair of identically constructed pipes in the form of elbows, hereinafter called arms 16 and 16 are employed. These arms 16 and 16 are dimensioned to cooperate with openings 9 and 7, respectively, through various fittings to be described hereinafter after plugs 10 are removed from openings 9 and 7. The fittings for arm 16 which cooperate with opening 9 include locking member 15 which has external threads which are secured to the internal threads of opening 9 and sleeve 13. Sleeve l3is positioned within locking member 15 and .is secured at one of its ends to the internal threads of arm The The other end of sleeve 13 which extends into opening 9 contains-an O-ring seal which cooperates with the lateral opening in nipple 5 to direct the water into arm 16 h in the direction shown by arrow 20 in FIG. 2. The upper end of arm 16 has internal threads 17 which cooperate with adjustable pipe fittings 18 and l9-to connect with the inlet side of a water meter (not shown). Arm 16 is then the inlet arm for the water meter.

Arm l6 cooperates with opening 7 of pipe cross 1 to form the discharge end for the water meter. Arm l6 cooperates with opening 7 through locking member 15' and sleeve 21 which is positioned within locking member 15' and is secured to the internal threads .of arm 16', FIG. 3. Adjustable pipe fittings 18 and 19' can also be mounted to opening 17' of arm 16 to provide additional adjustment for hooking up various size water meters.

When the arms 16and 16**l6 are secured to the pipe cross .1 and a water meter is connected between arms 16 and 16, the operation is as-follows: Water enters the opening of internal .pipe 2.an,d is directed upwardly by the 'water pressure into nipple Sand out of the lateral opening-of nipple 5 into sleeve 13 which, with'O-ring seal 14, is sealably-securedto the lateral opening. The water then flows into arm 16 in the direction shown by arrow 20 of FIG. 2. The water exits arm 16, passes through the water meter (not shown.) and is discharged into arm '16 where it travels back into pipecross l at opening 7 and through passageway 23 back into the pipeline.

While I have shown anddescribed preferred embodiments of my invention, it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A shutoff device for waterlines comprising:

A. A pipe cross having a first and second a pair of opposed openings, each opening positioned in a leg of the pipe I cross;

B. A nipple positioned within the pipe cross, said .nipple having a first passageway therethrough aligned with the first'pairof opposed openings and a secondpassageway communicating with one of the openings of the second pair of opposed openings;

C. An internal pipe coaxially disposed within one legof the pipe cross, the internal pipe having a first end affixed to the first passageway through the nipple and a second end extending through the opening in said leg, the outside diameter of the internal pipe being less than the diameter of said opening;

D. Mounting means on the leg containing the internal pipe for mounting the leg to an existing water line; and

E. Directing means fixed to the end of the internal pipe to direct water from the pipeline into the internal pipe.

2. The shutofi' device of claim 1 wherein a similar arm is mounted to each opening of the second pair of opposed openings in the pipe cross, one of said arms having a sleeve detachably secured thereto and extending into the opening of the pipe cross to communicate with the second passageway of the nipple, said arms being adaptable to have a water meter mounted therebetween and to direct the water from the nipple through the water meter and back into said pipe cross through the opposed opening in the pipe cross.

3. The shutofl" device of claim 1 wherein the pipe cross is mounted to a valve in the existing pipeline to replace a shut off portion of said valve and the directing means is an end seal which cooperates with a valve seat in said valve.

4. The shutoff device of claim 1 wherein a valve seat is mounted to the fires first passageway of the nipple above the first end of the internal pipe and a valve shutoff means is mounted to the opening in the first pair of opposed openings which is opposed to the opening in the leg having the internal pipe disposed therein, said shutoff means cooperating with said valve seat to control the flow of water within the shutoff device. 

1. A shutoff device for waterlines comprising: A. A pipe cross having a first and second a pair of opposed openings, each opening positioned in a leg of the pipe cross; B. A nipple positioned within the pipe cross, said nipple having a first passageway therethrough aligned with the first pair of opposed openings and a second passageway communicating with one of the openings of the second pair of opposed openings; C. An internal pipe coaxially disposed within one leg of the pipe cross, the internal pipe having a first end affixed to the first passageway through the nipple and a second end extending through the opening in said leg, the outside diameter of the internal pipe being less than the diameter of said opening; D. Mounting means on the leg containing the internal pipe for mounting the leg to an existing water line; and E. Directing means fixed to the end of the internal pipe to direct water from the pipeline into the internal pipe.
 2. The shutoff device of claim 1 wherein a similar arm is mounted to each opening of the second pair of opposed openings in the pipe cross, one of said arms having a sleeve detachably secured thereto and extending into the opening of the pipe cross to communicate with the second passageway of the nipple, said arms being adaptable to have a water meter mounted therebetween and to direct the water from the nipple through the water meter and back into said pipe cross through the opposed opening in the pipe cross.
 3. The shutoff device of claim 1 wherein the pipe cross is mounted to a valve in the existing pipeline to replace a shut off portion of said valve and the directing means is an end seal which cooperates with a valve seat in said valve.
 4. The shutoff device of claim 1 wherein a valve seat is mounted to the fires first passageway of the nipple above the first end of the internal pipe and a valve shutoff means is mounted to the opening in the first pair of opposed openings which is opposed to the opening in the leg having the internal pipe disposed therein, said shutoff means cooperating with said valve seat to control the flow of water within the shutoff device. 